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God's War by Kameron Hurley

I won’t lie: I did have to work a bit at this book. It
wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy it; actually every time I picked it up I loved the way
it was written. But, it did take me a while to lock into the world Hurley has
created. After I’d finished it, I may have had a little sigh of relief at
successfully negotiating the bug-filled lands of Umayma. It turns out that for
me God’s War is one of those
slow-burn books – I’m more and more impressed with it the more I think about
it. I’ve gone back to some of the most pertinent parts, and bedded in some of
the world-building. Now, I’m itching for the second part in the trilogy.

God’s War is the
first part in the Bel Dame Apocrypha.
The Bel Dames are a group of assassins whose targets are deserters from the
never-ending war between Nasheen and Chenja. They are seriously tough and scary
women. Nyx is one of the best, but her predilection for doing off-the-books
work makes her a target herself. In some frenetic action during the early
chapters of the book Nyx is hunted, captured, and imprisoned by her fellow
Dames.

A lot of characters, setting, and history are given in this
first short section; I did go back and read it twice in the end to get my
bearings. The second section pushes forward eight years and picks up Nyx’s
story. Now an outcast from the Bel Dames, she’s put together a team to head her
own private bounty hunter agency. She’s good at what she does, and it’s her
proficiency that gets her dragged into a political power struggle. Summoned by
Queen Zaynab to track down and retrieve an alien visitor with sensitive information,
Nyx is put in the middle of a treacherous situation; her best bet is to trust
no one…no one at all.

Everything in Nyx’s world is framed by the war. It seems
interminable, consuming generation after generation of young men. No one seems
especially sure what it’s being fought over, although religion and territory
look like good bets. The main factions, Chenja and Nasheen, have developed very
different cultures. Chenja is more familiarly traditional, with a
male-dominated hierarchy, whilst Nasheen is aggressively female-dominated. They
are not the only two countries, and we get hints about Mhorians, Ras Tiegans,
and Heidians. The different peoples are described as different races, and they
have distinct features that allow them to be easily identified.

This can cause difficulties, even within Nyx’s own team, as
crossing borders is not a simple matter. Added into the mix are shifters, who
can change form and are viewed with deep suspicion. There are also magicians
who can manipulate insects, and are also healers. Bug technology is everywhere.
The magicians also run the Nasheenian boxing gyms, where women slog it out for
cash and glory.

Hurley has created a chaotic world, full of unstable
loyalties, political machinations, religious conflict and violence. She has
also carved out a small space for love, between siblings most noticeably, but
also in some romantic relationships. It’s good to read a range of
relationships, including same-sex ones, without it being a major plot-point.
The most unlikely relationship is between Nyx and Rhys; it’s deeply passionate,
chaste, often one-sided, and most likely doomed.

Now I’ve done the groundwork I’m really looking forward to
book two. Infidel is scheduled for
release in May. There’s a lot to ponder, especially the political and religious
aspects of the book. I think that God’s
War was definitely worth the effort I put into it, as I’ve gone from
feeling a bit confused and ambivalent to actively wanting to recommend it. And do
you know what, that makes me feel pretty happy!

God’s War is
available now from Del Rey in paperback and eBook. The publisher sent me copy,
which was jolly nice of them.

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